Mad Queen Leaves the Palace

After listening to these words quietly, Xiao Lan thought to herself, "This Consort Tong is truly blessed with a tragic fate! To go from a concubine to an empress is a rare occurrence throughout history. No wonder the current emperor treats this empress coldly, showing no affection whatsoever as husband and wife."

Recalling her past life, Xiao Lan clearly remembered that on the eve of Yan Zhen's death, he issued a shocking imperial edict—to abolish Empress Lin and explicitly forbid her from being buried with the late emperor in the imperial mausoleum after her death.

This shows that Emperor Yanzhen must have hated Empress Lin to the core. If it weren't for the fact that Empress Lin had given birth to two princes for the emperor, he probably wouldn't have shown her any respect at all.

It was because of this imperial edict that Empress Lin never returned to the capital, instead spending her days in a temple hundreds of miles away, devoted to Buddhism and the dim light of lamps.

Back at the banquet, after Consort Tong left, the Empress originally intended to take the opportunity to make things difficult for Xiao Lan. However, Xiao Lan had already aroused her disgust, and the newly returned Yan Zhen was tall, imposing, and had an extraordinary aura, clearly not someone to be trifled with. Therefore, the Empress hesitated for a moment, and finally could only make an excuse that she was unwell, and after speaking with the Emperor, she took her leave.

This banquet, which should have been a grand celebration for the return of the eldest prince, turned into an awkward affair due to the interference of Yan Linfeng and the empress, leaving everyone unable to enjoy themselves.

However, Xiao Lan didn't care at all and continued to do as she pleased, enjoying the delicious food to the fullest. As Xiao Lan ate, she thought to herself that the delicacies in the palace were indeed far superior to anything outside. Those who could serve as imperial chefs must all be highly skilled and have superb culinary expertise.

After the grand and luxurious banquet came to a slow close, everyone rose to pay their respects and take their leave. The Emperor and Yan Zhenquan left first, and just then, a figure suddenly walked towards Yan Nanhui. The newcomer was none other than the high-ranking and renowned Prime Minister Lin. He walked steadily to Yan Nanhui, bowed slightly, and said, “Your Highness, I have a granddaughter named Miaoyin, who is fifteen years old. She has been exceptionally intelligent since childhood, proficient in all the arts, and has always admired Your Highness’s talent. I have heard that Minglu Academy will soon be enrolling new students, and my granddaughter has decided to study there. I hope Your Highness will be able to offer her some guidance.”

Standing to the side, Xiao Lan pondered inwardly. She had initially thought that given Yan Nan Hui's aloof and arrogant nature, he would at most give a perfunctory reply to such a request. After all, expecting him to actually take good care of her was practically impossible. Moreover, the Lin family was the Empress's maternal family; what exactly was Prime Minister Lin's intention in doing this? Didn't he know that he and Yan Nan Hui had already been betrothed by the Emperor? By so blatantly pushing his granddaughter before Prince Su, he clearly wanted her to become Prince Su's concubine! But regardless, barring any unforeseen circumstances, she would undoubtedly become Yan Nan Hui's rightful principal wife! Thinking of this, Xiao Lan frowned slightly, her gaze thoughtfully falling on Yan Nan Hui, wanting to see how he would respond.

Yan Nanhui swayed as he stood up, spilling some wine from his cup onto the ground. His face was flushed, but his eyes remained sharp as he stared directly at Prime Minister Lin, shouting, "Prime Minister Lin! What is the purpose of your actions? My future wife is right here beside me, and yet you dare to try to force your own granddaughter into the palace and offer her to me! Although our Great Xia has always valued military strength, surely you scholars can't abandon your integrity? Does the Empress not even have a say in her own son's marriage, yet she dares to interfere in my marriage? Humph! My father and mother are both in good health; it's none of your business to arrange my marriage! What are you and the Empress thinking, daring to interfere in my affairs without my father and mother's consent!"

Yan Nanhui's words resounded like thunder throughout the banquet. The guests who hadn't yet left began whispering amongst themselves. Some criticized Prime Minister Lin for overstepping his bounds and overstepping his bounds; others mocked the Lin family, saying their desire to curry favor with the imperial family had reached a fever pitch. In an instant, all sorts of idle gossip rose and fell, reaching everyone's ears with nothing but vulgarities.

At this moment, Yan Zhen had clearly shown his disdain for his daughter, Empress Lin, leaving Prime Minister Lin feeling extremely uneasy and caught in a dilemma. After all, no power in the palace could be easily offended. Faced with Prince Su's slightly mocking words, Prime Minister Lin could only feign composure and casually reply, "Your Highness, please don't make such a joke." With that, he hurriedly and swiftly left the bustling yet incredibly awkward banquet hall, as if being chased by a raging flood. The scene was truly embarrassing, making one sigh at the unpredictability of life.

Meanwhile, this farce unfolding on the other side happened to fall into the eyes of Eunuch Fang's men. These men, with their keen eyes and ears, naturally wouldn't miss such an amusing incident. And so, before long, the detailed account of the event spread like wildfire, quickly reaching the ears of the Emperor, who was resting in Consort Tong's palace.

However, an even more dramatic scene unfolded—that very night, the emperor issued an astonishing imperial edict! It turned out that the emperor had somehow heard from a famous physician that children born from consanguineous marriages often had defects.

Based on this, the emperor resolutely issued an edict stipulating that, apart from Lin Hua, the daughter of the Lin family who had already been chosen as the crown prince's concubine, no woman within three generations of the Lin family was allowed to set foot inside the palace. This edict was like a bolt from the blue, not only shaking the entire Lin family but also causing a huge uproar both inside and outside the palace. Everyone speculated about the reasons behind it and the various consequences it might bring…

In fact, the rumor about the possibility of intellectually disabled offspring from consanguineous marriage was something Xiao Lan had deliberately orchestrated and instructed others to spread throughout the capital. Her purpose was simply to create obstacles for Ye Lanyi and Yan Linfeng's marriage. Xiao Lan thought that even if Yan Linfeng eventually married Ye Lanyi, the rumor would create resentment. However, unexpectedly, the rumor somehow eventually reached Yan Zhen's ears.

Upon hearing this, Yan Zhen pondered for a long time: If the Lin family women were to enter the palace as concubines, what if there were problems with their offspring in the future? Wouldn't that harm the royal bloodline? With this in mind, he made a decisive decision and, on the grounds of ensuring the quality of the imperial offspring, explicitly forbade the Lin family women from entering the harem.

In fact, upon closer examination, it is not difficult to find that among the many princes, apart from Crown Prince Yan Jingtian and Seventh Prince Yan Moyan, who were born to the Empress and had a certain blood relationship with the Lin family, the other princes had no connection with the Lin family at all.

However, as the saying goes, a ruler's word is law. Since the emperor has already issued the decree, from this day forward, apart from Lin Hua, no woman in the Lin family for the next three generations can hope to ascend to the position of imperial concubine.

That very night, the imperial edict was issued, and the entire palace was thrown into an uproar. Inside the Phoenix Palace, the lights shone brightly all night long, never going out for a moment.

Meanwhile, the Lin family was in chaos, hastily sending someone late at night to fetch a doctor for a consultation. As for who had suddenly fallen ill, no one could say for sure. However, the next day, Prime Minister Lin went to court as usual.

The next morning, just as the first light of dawn appeared, Xiao Lan eagerly jumped out of bed. After a quick wash, she hurried off to the west of the city. Lately, she had been busy designing various exquisite pieces of jewelry, her inspiration flowing like a spring. At the same time, many pre-orders were due, and she needed to complete them as soon as possible and deliver them to her customers.

Through her meticulously managed shops, Xiao Lan has amassed a fortune. To say she earns a fortune daily would be an understatement. In reality, her wealth far exceeds people's imagination.

It was precisely because of this strong financial backing that Zhenyuan Escort Agency was able to expand rapidly. Today, it has more than two hundred branches throughout the country. Moreover, each branch is staffed with a considerable number of people, generally as many as two hundred. However, in important metropolitan areas like the capital and other larger prefectures, due to the high volume of business and demand, each branch can have as many as four or five hundred employees.

Even more astonishingly, Xiao Lan possessed remarkable foresight, cleverly integrating modern express delivery and food delivery services into the escort agency. This innovative move propelled Zhenyuan Escort Agency to fame in the capital, making it the focus of public attention. However, out of caution, Xiao Lan chose to remain low-key and did not publicly reveal her identity as the behind-the-scenes boss. As for Lin Dayou, for reasons unknown, he also did not disclose his relationship with the escort agency, instead entrusting his capable subordinate Li Yuan with overall management, serving as the head of the two branches in the capital.

On the first day of the second lunar month, the sun shone brightly and a gentle spring breeze caressed the face. The ancient and renowned Minglu Academy in the capital finally welcomed the start of the new semester. Xiao Lan and the other students, carrying heavy schoolbags, stepped into the familiar academy, beginning a new year of arduous academic journey.

However, when they entered the classroom, everyone was surprised to find that the previously neatly arranged seats now had two conspicuous vacancies. One of them belonged to Ye Yuandong, who, according to rumors, had not returned to the capital after returning to his hometown of Xiwuzhou for the New Year; the other was Ye Lanyi's seat, who had accompanied Consort Ye to a temple to pray for blessings and had not yet returned.

Meanwhile, the Third Prince Yan Linfeng sat calmly in his seat, but his expression was unusually gloomy.

Since the incident during the Lantern Festival when Yan Linfeng had behaved improperly in front of the palace, Emperor Yan Zhen was furious and did not hesitate to take back all the power held by Yan Linfeng. Not long after, the emperor ingeniously arranged some relatively leisurely positions for the sixth prince, Yan Mobei, and the seventh prince, Yan Moyan: the sixth prince was sent to the Ministry of Rites, while the seventh prince was ordered to take up a post in the Ministry of Music.

Although these two departments were also among the Six Ministries, they didn't have many complicated matters to attend to after the New Year, but it was better than nothing. In contrast, Yan Linfeng had become a truly idle prince among all the princes, a complete fall from grace. Those who had once firmly supported him scattered like frightened birds, seeking other masters to protect themselves.

Yan Linfeng hated Xiao Lan and Yan Nanhui to the core, but when he saw them, he still greeted them politely. Xiao Lan and Yan Nanhui returned the greetings according to etiquette, but Yan Nanhui no longer called him Third Brother, but instead addressed him as Third Prince.

After everyone was seated, Ye Lanyi, who shouldn't have been there, walked in with a beautiful woman.

Previously, because of the incident of impersonating Young Master Lan, Tan Si had already decided to expel Ye Lanyi from Minglu Academy, so everyone was shocked to see Ye Lanyi appear.

Wu Yuyu knew about the various grudges between Ye Lanyi and her cousin, so she said, "Miss Ye, weren't you expelled from the academy? How dare you come here?" After saying that, she put her hands on her hips and looked at Wu Yuyu.

At this moment, the beautiful girl next to Wu Yuyu spoke up: "You must be Wu Yuyu's sister. I am Lin Rou'er, the sister of my cousin Yu Xuan."

Prime Minister Lin has two sons. The eldest son had two children, Lin Yuxuan and Lin Hua, while Lin Rou'er was born to the Prime Minister's second son. Xiao Lan remembered that in her previous life, Lin Hua and Lin Rou'er married into the Crown Prince's residence together. Not long after, the Crown Prince was injured during the autumn hunting expedition and soon died from his injuries.

Empress Lin was devastated by the unjust death of the Crown Prince and went to a temple to live a life of seclusion. She never returned to the capital after Yan Zhen's death.

Not long after the Crown Prince's death, Xiao Lan married Yan Linfeng, and the Emperor took the opportunity to appoint Yan Linfeng as Crown Prince. Only in this life did Xiao Lan realize that it wasn't because she assisted Yan Linfeng in her previous life, allowing him to shine in front of the Emperor, that he became Crown Prince.

It was because she was a phoenix maiden, and whoever she married would become the crown prince. After understanding this principle, Xiao Lan thought that if the crown prince did not die, she could help him become the crown prince, and she and Yan Nan could just be a loving couple, Prince Su and Princess Su.

However, after Yan Nanhui told her about Consort Tong's past experiences, Xiao Lan felt that it would be better to have Yan Nanhui become the Crown Prince and the future Emperor.

Anyway, Xiao Lan already has people under her control. If things don't work out with Yan Nan one day, she can just fake her death. Changing her identity and location to become the richest woman in Great Xia wouldn't be bad either.